Big 3 no more?

[Te Kaha]

It shouldn't be that hard I mean there's 4 nations have the same passport in the U.K.

Are Welsh or Scots on an English Passport? are welsh or scots citizens of England?... No they aren't.

Cook Islanders ARE New Zealanders its that simple.

 

[Pommy]

Are Welsh or Scots on an English Passport? are welsh or scots citizens of England?... No they aren't.

Cook Islanders ARE New Zealanders its that simple.

There's no such thing as an English passport though. I'm sure if RFL wanted to close the loop hole and say Cook islanders have to chose one way or the other which they represent they could do so.

 

[Te Kaha]

There's no such thing as an English passport though. I'm sure if RFL wanted to close the loop hole and say Cook islanders have to chose one way or the other which they represent they could do so.

How? deny New Zealanders the right to play for New Zealand? The Cook Islands ARE part of NZ, until that changes, (which given one sided nature of the referendum a few years ago, wont) then the RFL cant force a player to not represent a country that they are a citizen of, provided they meet eligibility criteria,

 

[Pommy]

How? deny New Zealanders the right to play for New Zealand? The Cook Islands ARE part of NZ, until that changes, (which given one sided nature of the referendum a few years ago, wont) then the RFL cant force a player to not represent a country that they are a citizen of, provided they meet eligibility criteria,

Well if you have a dual national the rules currently deny English austtalians from repping for both countries so what's the difference?
I'm not saying they can stop them repping for NZ but to make sure they pick one or the other not switch between.

 

[adamkungl]

One of the many reasons why I prefer Cook Islands not be given any priority in qualifiers.. by definition they are a NZ B team

 

[Te Kaha]

Well if you have a dual national the rules currently deny English austtalians from repping for both countries so what's the difference?
I'm not saying they can stop them repping for NZ but to make sure they pick one or the other not switch between.

Switching between countries is an entirely different matter. The original post was about Zeb Taia being eligible for NZ, which he clearly is.
However in this case switching between the Cooks and NZ ISN'T switching countries, its switching between NZ and NZ.
Its not like the UK where they are a combination of countries, the Cooks ARE part of NZ. The UN asked the cooks to vote on remaining part of NZ, they did, they stayed... end of. The real question is should be, Should the RFL give international status to the Cooks when this is the case. The IOC does, but they dont tend to worry about the perception of "heritage" players.

 

[adamkungl]

I think a comparable situation would be if Wales or Scotland competed in the same tournaments as GB

 

[Pommy]

Switching between countries is an entirely different matter. The original post was about Zeb Taia being eligible for NZ, which he clearly is.
However in this case switching between the Cooks and NZ ISN'T switching countries, its switching between NZ and NZ.
Its not like the UK where they are a combination of countries, the Cooks ARE part of NZ. The UN asked the cooks to vote on remaining part of NZ, they did, they stayed... end of. The real question is should be, Should the RFL give international status to the Cooks when this is the case. The IOC does, but they dont tend to worry about the perception of "heritage" players.

It's an interesting point. My understanding is cook islanders can live in NZ but 'Kiwis' can't automatically go and live in the Cook Islands.
Which is a situation like crown dependencies Isle of Man, Gibraltar etc whilst proud to be British are also very proud to be from their specific location also. My question is why Ireland plays as Ireland rather than the 2 seperate nations.

 

[jim_57]

Strange situation.

I guess it's kind of like a group of interested New Caledonia heritage players setting up a "national" team. Then they go on to make the world cup and knock France out in the pool stages...

Sad thing is I could see that happening.

 

[Te Kaha]

It's an interesting point. My understanding is cook islanders can live in NZ but 'Kiwis' can't automatically go and live in the Cook Islands.
Which is a situation like crown dependencies Isle of Man, Gibraltar etc whilst proud to be British are also very proud to be from their specific location also. My question is why Ireland plays as Ireland rather than the 2 seperate nations.

And if you apply that to League, then all Cooks eligible players are eligible for NZ but not all NZ players are eligible for Cooks.
In that instance you either accept that this will be the status quo or you revoke the Cooks "International" status. Because anybody who challenged a ban on a NZ citizen being allowed to play for NZ, or in Taias instance the Kid\Grandkid of an NZ Citizen, would surely win.

 

[Irish-bulldog]

I have a feeling somoa will beat England this Saturday.

 

[Rhyno]

It will be a Aus vs Samoa final

England are declining more and more every year

 

[roughyed8]

It will be a Aus vs Samoa final

England are declining more and more every year

 

[adamkungl]

Haha imagine thinking Samoa was gonna win... good lord.

If the big 3 ever becomes the not-so-big 4 it won't be one of the islands in the mix.

 

[jim_57]

Haha imagine thinking Samoa was gonna win... good lord.

If the big 3 ever becomes the not-so-big 4 it won't be one of the islands in the mix.

Samoa ran NZ and England very close in the 4 nations and had some very decent players, it was hardly laughable that they could upset England.

Generally agree with that last statement for Tonga, Samoa etc due to their size they will always be strong second string sides with a reliance on heritage players.

PNG and to a lesser extent Fiji have some potential though if ways can be found to get their best juniors in to the NRL/SL systems. PNG has 8 million RL nutcases, the goal is converting that in to professional player numbers.

 

[adamkungl]

PNG and France are still the only hope of ever moving above 3rd place.

One of the smaller nations could cause an upset with the heritage players they can call on (see Scotland v NZ), don't get me wrong, but 1 isolated win wouldn't have me saying 'the big 3 is no more'